Sixth Year
by Holly.Owl.Eyes
Summary: "I'll never go out with you Potter!" "And why's that?" "Because you're a selfish, immature git who thinks he can get any girl! Well I have some news James, you can't have me." He growled, "You're a liar, Evans. You know I'll have you." And he kissed me. FULL SUM INSIDE
1. Date, Unexpected

**CHAPTER ONE**

**Lily**

I set my texts down on the common room table in front of the fire, and sat down on the chaise, lost in thought. I had just seen Severus walking with his new group –or more like sauntering— down the corridors with a gang of Slytherins. I knew Lucius was in it—and I knew also that where ever he was, trouble followed suit. And that was what he was doing, following them like a lost puppy. It was like he was oblivious to their total dislike for him. Except I knew he knew. And that was what devastated me. They teased him constantly. I always wondered why he stuck around, held his nose high like them, put up with it. Everyone knew they were followers of Voldemort.

I worried constantly for him—even though our friendship had disintegrated after fourth year. But how could he hang out with a group that despised and tormented mud-bloods, the whole time knowing that I was one!

"Lily…" I snapped out of my reverie. "Lily, are you coming?" I looked up and saw Earnest before me, dressed still in her school uniform despite the fact that classes ended hours ago. She looked at me bemused. And then it came to me. "Oh, bloody! I'm sorry Earn, we were going to Hogsmeade, weren't we?" A wave of guilt washed over me. I'd forgotten the biggest thing I was looking forward to all day. I had come back finally, from the Heads' meeting exasperated, and I must have forgotten about it in the haze of exhaustion.

"Yes we were! And what are you doing? Why aren't you dressed?"

"It's ten at night," I defended, grumpily.

"Well, come on," Earnest said as she dragged me up to the girls' dormitories. "Don't think you're being let off the hook because you forgot!"

We entered the empty room, and Earn hastily began to look through my trunk. I rolled my eyes and pulled on the first thing she handed me. I found myself in a rush to get out and leave, to apologize to my other friends who also must be waiting.

I slipped out of my PJ bottoms and back into my school skirt at lightning speed. I looked into the mirror to check my hair. I pulled it up as usual, high in a ribbon, too unconcerned about the rest of my appearance to look beyond at anything else. But upon getting up for the door, I was stopped by Earnest's gentle hand that drew the tie from my ponytail, letting tumbles of my red hair pour out and settle around my face.

"Earnest," I complained.

She shrugged, smiling. "It looks better this way," she said.

We met the rest at the bottom of the marble staircase, Rachel and June waiting for us impatiently as we approached.

"Jeez, Lily," Rachel said. "Have a nice sleep?" She laughed. I stuck out my tongue.

"Come on, you guys," June complained eagerly. "They've got to be there already."

"Who?" I asked.

"No one," Earnest said, taking my arm. It could have just been my imagination, but I thought I saw Earn throw June a warning glance.

"Why are you getting so worked up over a couple of drinks," I asked wearily.

"We're not. Just ready for some fun, is all."

We descended into the great hall just as four boys strode in through the front doors, causing snow to flurry in from outside, sweeping over us like a freezing slap to the face.

My anger broiled as I realized it was the Marauders, and they were walking this way. Great. No doubt they were up to something big being up at this time of night.

"Lily," I heard James say in greeting. I turned to him with narrowed eyes. Why was he talking to me? I'd asked him abruptly to stop before the beginning of the year when I'd had to save Severus from another one of his pranks—back when Severus and I were still sort of on speaking terms. James had never really taken me seriously out of all the years I've known him, and that's what always irked me. Everything was a big joke to him.

So far this year I hadn't heard a word from him. I was surprised that he had been so obliging to my request. Everyone knew he'd liked me since we first took the boats to the castle as First years. Maybe it was respect— but it couldn't be. Maybe he feared knew what I could do to him. I could make rumors spread like wildfire. I was glad however that this dysfunctional acquaintance had finally ended. And I knew it was impossible he still liked me.

Why, then was he breaking our feat?

"Yes?" I asked grudgingly, swallowing my annoyance as I took in his expression. He was watching me like a time-bomb. He was afraid of my still hating him. He should feel sorry, he brought it upon himself. He provoked me when he'd started pranking and tormenting my best friend first year. I wasn't about to forgive him for it. But I would swallow my pride and put up with him since all my friends were gathered at the moment.

James had stationed himself next to me, as well as the other marauders who flecked around June, Rachel, and Earnest.

Remus, I knew from Potions and Herbology. Sirius, from Potions as well as Divination; and the round, pink faced boy, Peter whom trailed them wherever they went, I'd never had any classes with. James, however, I had Divination, Transfiguration, and Astronomy with—and dreaded every moment of with his grueling pesters. Three classes too many.

"June. Rachel. Lily," Remus addressed.

Rachel turned to Sirius to talk, and I watched in contempt. Rachel's fancy toward Sirius had grown in the past year. And after being run into by the Marauders all the time, he'd somewhat grown on her. I wasn't a big admirer of the girls in Black's fan club, but he was tolerable when around Rachel; and her feelings toward him, I could respect and kept me from completely despising him as I did Potter.

Fading quickly from my distant line of thought, I realized Potter was looking at me. He had an expression that was like a cross between interest and a smirk. And I realized his eyes weren't trained on my face. I followed his glance; I looked down, and gasped. The sweater Earnest had given me was a red fringed sweater that hugged me tightly, but of which I hadn't realized, showed more of my cleavage than I had was comfortable with. How could I have been walking around the castle like this and not even notice? I mean, I'd even had a mirror in front of me!

I gasped and pulled the collar up before I could draw anymore attention to myself. My embarrassment brought heat to my cheeks, I could feel it, and the anger at my being embarrassed turning me even more red.

"To whoever lent you that shirt, Lily, I have immense gratitude," Sirius said fanning his face and smiling, "and I'm sure Jamesy does too," he went on, "look how he stares!"

I hit them both hard on the arm, hoping it hurt. They simply chuckled.

"Are we ready to leave yet?" Sirius asked. I glanced at Rachel. She couldn't take her eyes off him. "What do you mean 'we'," I asked frowning. Everyone had their eyes down except Sirius and James.

"Why my Lilyflower, we're all going to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeers. Did no one tell you?" he asked amusedly. He was then met with elbows to the stomach from Earnest and Rachel who were standing nearest him. "Ouch!" He yelled, rubbing the sore spots.

I turned to my friends, fuming. I was about to open my mouth and give them a rebuke about their planning this behind my back, when Rachel suddenly jerked my arm and lead me out the doors, rolling her eyes.

"C'mon, Lily. It's not like you could refuse a date," she teased. She must've noticed my regard. That, or the smoke emitting from my ears.

"With James Potter I can."

I tore my arm out of her grasp. "You all know I loathe him," I whispered. "How could you do this?"

Earnest and June caught up to us, and we made our way across the grounds. Potter and the other three trailed a few feet behind, Remus and James in the back.

We entered Hogsmeade at last from the painfully long trail, and sweet smells wafted around us, picking up with the wind and tempting us to the doors of every candy shop we walked past. The happiness the small village radiated never failed to bring me the warmest joy. And every feeling that nudged at me under my skin I let melt willingly away as we stepped into the warmth of the Three Broomsticks.

Jill and Earnest looked for a table as Rachel remained by my side to order seven butterbeers. We walked to the far end of the bar where everyone was sitting, walking carefully, teetering with the weight of the heavy trays. Hands grabbed eagerly for their own warm mug. I took my own and looking around, I saw that the only seat that was available was one next to James, which I knew was purposely reserved. Rachel plopped down next to Sirius before I could move, leaving me with no choice.

I squeezed onto the bench next to Potter, who refused smugly to scoot over a little to give me more room. "James!" I complained. He looked at me, smiling with false ignorance. "Could you move over please?" I asked as nicely as I could.

He moved over a couple inches and I squeezed in. I bumped into Pettigrew by accident, almost spilling his drink. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Peter" I apologized, guiltily. He was blushing slightly under his chubby cheeks, his beady eyes watching me with silent bewilderment.

"It's alright," he muttered.

"Excuse me; _I'm_ the one you should be apologizing to," James said, "After you rubbing your bum all over me."

Sirius barked out a loud, booming laugh. I glared at him.

"You will never hear an apology from me," I snapped. "You were the one who didn't have the decency to move over." I felt a kick from under the table. I looked up and Earnest was staring at me with a sharp look. I bit my tongue to keep from retorting back, but let the grimace stay as I took a sip of my butterbeer.

I refused to lean over in Peter's way, but I didn't want to sit anywhere near Potter either. I was stuck. But after a minute of sitting with Pettigrew's eyes probing me and the remarkable odor of his breath, I reluctantly picked the latter to incline my structure more toward James, strictly to be more conveniently out of the way of Pettigrew's stench; I felt mean, but the incessant feeling of not wanting to endure it won over.

James noticed my little shift, and placed his arm over my shoulders, and leaned in close to whisper in my ear, "I knew you'd come around sometime, Lily." He pulled me close. "Wormtail does sort of stink, doesn't he?" His breath tickled my ear. I flinched away. "That really is a great top by the way," he said more loudly, purposely drawing attention back to where I didn't want it.

"Get off me! What do you think you're doing!" I hissed. I pushed him aside.

"What, I was only messing around, Evans," he laughed. "Come on do you have a sense of humor? Or is what everyone saying true?"

"What do you mean, what everyone is saying?" People were talking about me? Who? I felt a pang of hurt.

"It's going around that you're all stiff and uptight because you're a virgin that just needs a good shag. But you're too bitter, and you push guys away. So maybe you're a little lenient toward the other playfield, if you know what I mean," he said.

I stared in shock. I was really that bitter, that I gave off an air that gave people the idea that I was a bitch, and automatically gave them the right to talk about me behind my back?

Feeling hot tears well up in my eyes, I leaped up from the table astringently, and headed for the exit. It suddenly felt too hot in here, and everyone's laughter seemed mocking and warped. I needed air.

It had become apparent. I was wrong to think I had everyone's good opinions. But what James said makes sense. I don't deserve to have it when I've been treating everyone like rubbish because of my own acrimony. I am bitter. Toward everyone, even to my friends.

How could I think James even fancied me in the beginning, when I've been like this all along?

**Hey, thank you for reading this if you've made it this far. Can you be sweet and send me a review to tell me what you think? :)**

**- Holly**


	2. The Slytherins and the Hogshead

**CHAPTER TWO**

**James **

I watched Lily walk of out the pub in the most angry manner I've seen from her yet. Evans was frustrated that her friends kept it secret that she would be snuck onto a date with Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I. She didn't have to be so mad though, bloody hell! I mean come on, was I really that repulsing?

I hadn't spoken to her since Fifth year. I had backed off like she wanted me to; and yet, she still felt the need to be angry at me, for a reason still beyond me. Anyway, my silly little crush on Evans had definitely faded since then. I hope she's not flattering herself thinking all those little pranks and nuisances actually meant something. Not anymore.

But what I said to her really hurt her feelings, and guilt set in the pit of my stomach. I was a jerk. Why did I say that?

I decided to get up and look for her. Maybe apologize. "I'll be right back," I said to the loud boisterous table. Where was I when all the talking and joking really started? I left Sirius who had that girl Rachel on his lap, and Earnest, Lily's closer friend of the three staring after me quizzically. I avoided her gaze as I left. I pulled open the heavy wood door to the pub and made my way outside into the biting cold, searching for the familiar flare of red through the snow and the loitering strangers. But all I saw was the white of the snowfall. A big snow storm must be coming.

Suddenly someone bumped into me. "Sorry," I heard the meek voice murmur.

"Lily?" I asked in relief.

"No," she said. "Is that you, James?"

"Yes. Hi. Have you seen Lily?" I knew the two were at least acquainted. Weren't they?

"No, but I wouldn't mind keeping you company."

I sighed. "I'm looking for someone right now. Maybe you could help."

"Okay sounds fun enough," she laughed playfully.

I ignored her flirtatious smile and continued my search through the emptying street. There weren't that many people out. Where was she? I hope she hadn't done anything stupid.

**Lily**

The night air was freezing, and all I had on was the sweater Earnest had leant me which felt as thin in the cold as though I'd had on nothing at all, and my uniform skirt was no coverage at all. It felt like my legs were getting frost bite. The snowfall was almost blizzard-like; and I couldn't see a thing. But the curtain of misery and shame began to lift the more I kept on treading through the snow. And I realized through the heavy feelings, I'd blinded myself and hadn't been paying any attention to where I was going. I just walked and walked, the same thoughts circling around in my head. And now I didn't know where I was.

Nothing was visible through the impenetrable snow fall.

Finally, I thought I estimated the distance of how far I walked, and traced my steps back. Maybe I was near the pub again. I breathed a sigh of relief, and took another step forward. And came face to face with a stone cold brick wall.

"_Ouch!_" Where was I? Obviously not where I thought I was. That was for sure. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. I thought. There was only one wrong turn that was possible—even for the blind. The right turn to the worst part of Hogsmeade, The entrance to the Hog's Head. Judging by how long I've walked, I was sure I was at the other end of Hogsmeade entirely. I looked around me bewildered, a sense of fear creeping over me like a storm cloud.

I heard the snap of a twig nearby. I jumped, gasping noisily.

"What was that?" A voice said from the shadows of the alley. And then I realized my mistake. There was more whispering. And I heard someone say. "I don't know!"

"Who's there," the first voice called. I recognized it immediately, and with shameful terror, realized it wasn't who I'd been hoping for.

There was a long moment of silence as Lucius Malfoy stepped out from the shadows. "Well, well. If it isn't for our schools's smartest little mudblood," he said in a slithery mocking tone. I could barely see through the sheen of snowfall in front of my face, where he was standing. I became even more afraid.

I was pretty good at defending myself, but what if he snuck up on me? I couldn't even see where he was.

I found that the entrance door to the Hog's Head was right next to me. I fumbled for the door knob and stumbled in, eager for some warmth and safety. Maybe if there were other people around, Malfoy wouldn't be as crude.

I was wrong. He stepped in after me, obviously keener on locating my presence better than myself. Karkaroff, Severus, Goyle, and, Severus flanked around him on either side.

I looked around, weary of any help. There was no one in the pub at all except the bartender, a large tall man wiping out the inside of mugs with a dirty cloth. He watched us as if we were merely a scene of amusement.

There was no help. But determined to put up a fight, I pulled out my wand and pointed it at him, but they were already bearing each of theirs.

"Think about what you're doing, Malfoy," I growled. If he harmed me anymore than he'd done to anyone in the past, he'd be sure to get in some kind of trouble, a one way ticket to Azkaban would be nice. But he's been known to go as far as the three unforgivable curses without mercy and more unsettlingly, without the notice of any of our professors. But his rich, capable family had the connections to somehow able to worm him out of it once or twice, I know for sure.

"Why Evans, are you afraid?"

I muttered _stupefy_ and pointed it at Goyle and the rest, taking them all out at once. Lucius looked about him, and showing that I had proven my point clearly enough, went blanch white.

Snape, I saw, was still standing. He had blocked my spell. He was always so good at that. I cursed under my breath.

I watched as he raised his wand to me. It seemed to go in slow motion. Malfoy was watching me with a smirk on his thin mouth, the bartender man in due form, a sick look in both their eyes.

"You'll pay for that, _Evans_," he spat. _Expelliarmus!_

I jumped as my wand flew from my hand. "No!" I shouted.

A cross of hesitation flickered in Snape's eyes, but it returned to disgust again when Lucius began jeering. It was just a show for Malfoy, I realized. _Confundus, _Snape spat. His leader laughed.

Then everything went fuzzy—I forgot where I was. What was I supposed to be doing? The disorientation was dizzying; I fell to my knees.

Severus approached my lousy, helpless form, and I just stared wide-eyed back at him as his figure cast a shadow over me. _Severus… was he going to help me?_

"I'm sorry, Lily," he said. And then I heard, _stupefy_ slip from his mouth. And everything went black.

It could have been hours I lye passed out, I couldn't tell. But suddenly through the dark, I heard faint noises of struggle and a load of crashing. The bartender's voice—loud, husky shouted attempts at regulation control, and a warm, familiar voice that I could've sworn carried my name with it drifted to me.

All of a sudden, I was whipped back into the present. James Potter was bent over me, a sick look of horror and worry in his eyes. For a moment, I lye frozen in his arms, stunned, and a different feeling came over me as I looked into his face. Gratitude? Relief? It wasn't either.

And then it all came back to me, hitting me like a ton of bricks and I realized where I was. _Who_ I was gawking at. "Get off me," I shouted. He pulled me off the floor and to my feet, completely ignoring me. I glared. "Where are they," I said revenge thick on my tongue and in my veins.

"That," James said, staring at a dark heap on the ground. "Disgusting prick did this to you, in case you were wondering." I followed his gaze, startled. Severus lye unconscious on the ground surrounded by whole lot of them all scattered. "_Snape_," I muttered. It was like a blade through the chest as I remembered.

"I'm sorry."

I sighed. Severus was trying to avoid hurting me by simply using a confusion spell on me, then just knocking me out, to satisfy.

"It's alright. He needed it for what he'd gotten himself into."

"Think it's the Marauders' fault? I mean we did kind of bully the bloke, didn't we?"

"'Suppose," I agreed. "None, of those pranks did him any good." What was it to me? Ever since James first talked to me, he'd started acting strange. And by the end of our Fourth year, he'd ended our friendship. He'd chosen _them_. So what was he to _me_ anymore?

I looked gratefully up at James, but his eyes were elsewhere. He really protected me. Did he still care about me? No, it was impossible. It's just what anyone would do if they came across something like this.

But still, maybe James Potter wasn't what I'd made him out to be.

I was pulled from my reverie when I realized something wrong.

I looked worriedly around for Lucius, he wasn't on the floor with his followers. "Malfoy," said James, pointing toward the opposite wall, "attacked me when I came in." The tables were crashed and collapsed over each other, the chairs broken. Lucius Malfoy's body lye in a dark heap, as I looked closer I saw his arms were twisted in a sickly way. They were broken; we were going to get an earful when we got back to the castle.

"Did you have to chuck him across the room like that?" I asked laughing.

"And not even a thank you," he said snidely.

I heaved a resigned sigh. "Thank you so much James Potter. It means the world to me it really does." He looked up at me, a satisfied smile on his features. I couldn't let him off that easy. "Now, I think I'll _die _if I don't have a kiss!"

He blushed and looked away angrily. "Some day, _Evans_…" I avoided his furious eyes.

After an awkward pause, I looked to the door, eager for escape, but I found there was someone standing there, almost guarding the exit. The little blondie, Matilda. She was in a few classes with me, but I didn't know her too well. As far as I knew, she'd hated me since third year when I'd first been introduced to her. I never knew why. But did James know her? She wasn't there the whole time was she?

I blushed and looked away. I heard her footsteps as she came to stand next to him.

"You really got them, James," she said.

"Yeah, I know, _reducto_ can do some real harm."

"I could have taken care of it on my own, thanks," I said.

"Well, you _obviously_ didn't," James retorted. Matilda giggled.

I huffed. "So how do you two know each other," I asked, changing the subject.

"James and I were looking for you out there for the _longest_ time," she said dramatically.

I looked at Potter, he was watching me carefully. I blinked at him, curiously. He saw, and looked away, running a hand through his messy hair. He still seemed to be thinking about something else, though.

"…James…?" Matilda tugged on his arm; he snapped out of it and turned his attentions to her.

"You in the mood for a butterbeer?" She asked. He looked at me, and then back to her. "Er—maybe next Hogsmeade visit," he said reluctantly. Matilda pouted. "Hey, we'll go to Madame Puddifoot's. I'll buy," James said pulling her to him so that they were locked in each other's arms. This seemed to brighten her cheer again. Potter, Scshmotter. Couldn't refuse a girl to save his life.

I turned annoyed step to the door. "I don't think it's the best time for milkshakes or butterbeers right now."

I looked for the barman, the large dirty man who'd watched as the Slytherins had their fun. He was nowhere to be seen. "The castle has probably been alerted by now," I said worriedly.

"Cool it, Lily," Potter groaned. "The students only now have started heading back."

"Fine. But I bet McGonagall is waiting in her office right now. Holding out longer would just set her off. But I personally wouldn't mind if you were expelled." I huffed and walked out. I knew I was doing it again. Giving them the cold shoulder, being the bitter me, that everyone I new now so obviously hated. But I was afraid I didn't know how to stop, especially now that I feel more vulnerable around James and Matilda. The freezing air bit at my cheeks, but at least the blizzard had died down a little.

I heard the creaking of the bar door reopening as the two followed behind me.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked, thinking back to the rest of our friends.

"Already headed back."

We started our trek quietly and walked separate distances. Matilda would say something every now and then to break the silence, and I tried really hard not to say anything mean. I tried really hard not to say anything really. It was hard. I just couldn't help it. And the irksome way she clung to Potter didn't help either. I don't know why. We hadn't spoken of anything about the little talk in the pub, but I guess I was the only one with it still lingering on my mind. It was selfish of me to be thinking about it, and wondering if James was too, and not just trying to let it go and try and re-evaluate myself on my own time. I decided against ever bringing it up. And just pretend like it never happened. But I should really be nicer to James. I felt bad.

We entered the grounds as silent as ever. The frozen grass crunching under our feet was the only sound. The silence and the cold were getting to be too much for me. I just wanted to be back in the warm common room again with June, Rachel, and Earnest. And forget about everything.

We were almost to the castle when I suddenly saw a figure not far off in the distance, and I realized they were coming our way. My heart skipped a beat. They were getting closer. James and Matilda seemed to see them too, for they had stopped short behind me.

Matilda started whimpering. "Shh," I murmured whipping around to glare at her.

The figure stopped in front of us. My pulse raced, wondering who it was.

"Miss Evans, Mr.….Potter." It was a familiar voice. Professor Slughorn. I could almost see him through the mist now. It might have been me, but it looked like he was staring at James funny.

I let out a relieved laugh. "Oh, Professor, you gave us quite a fright."

Matilda stepped in. "Yes, Professor, we just came from a fight with some Slytherins—" I placed my hand over her mouth. Couldn't she just shut up?

"Yes, well unfortunately, McGonagall and Dumbledore want to see you in their offices. I wasn't told what for…but hopefully you all got away okay." We nodded. "Where did they go off to, do you know?"

James and I exchanged a glance. "…they're still at the Three Broomsticks, sir," James said hesitantly.

"Still there?"

"Well, we sort of had to defend ourselves, sir," he said.

"Oh, I see," Slughorn said slowly. "Well, hopefully it isn't that they want you two for."

I felt a guilty pang as I looked over at James. If I had never left in such a fit, no one would have felt the need to come after me, and we never would have gotten in this trouble.

"Follow me," the Professor said. And we carried on silently after him. I could feel James's eyes on me most of the way.

We finally arrived at the castle, but it seemed more quiet than usual. Maybe everyone had already come back from Hogsmeade and was in bed—but that meant we were past curfew. What was the time?

Slughorn startled me by suddenly stopping us at the marble staircase. He turned to us, a gleam in his eye. Maybe he worried also. "I'll leave you here to go on yourselves. McGonagall will be waiting for you near the spiraling stairs outside of Dumbledore's office." He switched his gaze to Matilda. "And if I were you, I'd get going before you get caught out of bed as well." I held back a snicker.

The Professor left, smiling, and said, "I'll be seeing you next week in class."

Matilda had stopped to say her goodbyes to James. She pulled him into a corner. I heard whispering and what not between them, and I thought nothing of it, but they were taking so long. I found myself growing impatient, and upon approaching them, I found the whispering had stopped. I gasped when I saw them huddled in the shadows.

"Hey!" I hissed.

They broke apart. "Sorry," James said.

I huffed, folding my arms over my chest. "Night." And Matilda ran up the stairs giggling. I shook my head reproachfully and turned on the balls of my feet, making leave. Potter dragged behind me.

"That is totally inappropriate, James," I said half heartedly.

"I enjoyed it," he joked.

"Don't you have any self respect?" I said rolling my eyes.

He laughed. I looked away, keeping my arms folded. The rest of the way was silent. The worry of what lye in wait for us in the Headmaster's office was another heavy subject to wait for and we each pondered ourselves. It just wasn't a talking night anymore.

The air was heavy as we stopped in front of McGonagall. My palms were sweaty with nervousness. "Well, go on," she ushered us. We ducked into the little staircase. She muttered the password grim and tight-lipped. "_Chocolate frogs_." And the stairs began to rotate slowly up. "Good luck you too. I've never seen two Heads in at the same time for different reasons. Dumbledore must think it important if I should include both of you." And then she turned and left us without saying another word, her cloak billowing crisply behind her. She sounded almost proud. That wasn't right. Were we on the same page?

When we reached his office doors, James balled his fist up to knock. I turned to him, and he looked back with wary eyes. I saw him shaking. Was he nervous like me? I hoped we weren't going to be expelled. And knowing what Malfoy's family was like, it was a likely chance they could make it so.

"Come in," a soft voice called. I nodded, glancing at James, and we pushed open the double doors.

Inside, we saw Dumbledore facing us in the center of the room, waiting as patient as ever. His solemn eyes wandering over us with a look of welcome. But they weren't as airy and playful as usual. There was a more strict air about him. What was going on?

And then upon looking about the room, I came across many other faces. I gasped. Suddenly my father and a man who looked strangely similar to James stepped forward. The similarity was actually freakish. Behind them, both our families stood. It was impossible. What were they doing here?

Worry turned my stomach inside out.

**Hope this is an okay second chapter! **


	3. Dumbledore's Office

**CHAPTER THREE**

**Lily**

"Lily," I heard my father breathe in relief.

"What's going on?" I asked, bewildered, shaken. Our parents had been called here? But what for? They couldn't have been sent here because we'd just gotten in trouble with some Slytherins… Something else was going on, I could feel it. And it wasn't good.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter. I have brought you and your families here to tell you all the news in person." The sinking feeling in my abdomen dropped, and I felt even worse.

A bit uncomfortable, I avoided my eyes to look around his office. I gasped in surprise. The normally bright and happy room was now dim, heavy with discomfort, the lit fireplace was the only light and warmth illuminating the area. But it still felt cold. Dumbledore himself did not look so well. His crystal blue eyes appeared a bit flatter, the old tissue papery skin on his face had turned a tad greyer, and his charisma, always so cheerful and solicitous, had morphed into a serious silence. If Dumbledore was this quiet, it must be something big disturbing him. And he, being the rock and anchor for the entire school, was the only thing holding us up.

He was worried—frightened.

He didn't even seem like the same Dumbledore. My blood turned to ice.

I stole a quick glance at James; he was standing guarded, watching his parents with a pained expression, his were fists balled, turning his knuckles white. I watched his face, taken aback. Did he know something about this I didn't? But something about the look on his face made me want to wipe it right off. It didn't seem right when he wasn't cracking a lame joke or pulling something to piss anyone off. I had the urge to grab his hand, let him know it couldn't be that bad.

But then I remembered Matilda. He must have a real fancy for the girl to _snog_ her the day they met. Or was it just a floozy? I'd never seen James do that before. But then again, he _was_ James Potter: the master of surprise. So I really had nothing to account for it.

I found my hand was already so close to his and I felt a tingle as his skin brushed up against mine.

I pulled it back impulsively, feeling simultaneously both raw in emotion, and appalled at myself. What was wrong with me? I toyed with my fingers, playing off my motion as fidgeting.

As if he'd somehow read my thoughts, he glanced down at me, his green eyes flickering. I looked away too quickly to decipher what his gaze really held. Maybe he was only looking past me.

James's father had stopped short. He had the same irritated look that James got whenever being interrupted. "But sir, shouldn't we have a moment alone with them? I mean, shouldn't we tell them ourselves?" he said in a deep voice, an older version of James's. He had every feature James bore, except the brown in his eyes, slightly different than James's dark hazel. "Alan," the woman next to him said soothingly. "I'm sorry, Headmaster," she said, "We're just a bit worried for our kids." She had green eyes and raven black hair. She was beautiful. They _were_ intriguing. What a couple, I wondered, gawking.

I glanced over at my family and my parents. They were really standing in Dumbledore's office right now. Why were they here? We both knew what they thought of me. They hated me. It made no sense—they hated witches and wizards. But they being here—well, they weren't the type to just skip on over at Dumbledore's first request. It had to be big, because knowing them; they wouldn't just agree to come without putting up a fight.

The importance of the situation kept growing on me, I realized.

The change in Dumbledore, _my_ family being here… Whatever was going on made me feel sick. Neither struck me well.

But Dumbledore laughed—the first comforting smile I'd seen since Hogsmeade. I started, a bit shocked. Was I just imagining things, then? I could have sworn there was something wrong with Dumbledore.

Pretend happiness or not, I suddenly felt a bit better inside. Like there was hope.

"Alas, don't be silly, Gwendolyn. I understand completely. No need to get worked up," Headmaster said as I watched, suspiciously. "We both know what Alan's like. 'No one gets in my way," he quoted. James's father blushed, and his mom laughed.

"Oh, the Quidditch days," she cooed, kissing her husband.

I looked back to my family. They were watching in disgust.

Then my father surprised me by stepping forward to take my hand, guiding me back to stand with the rest of the family. What was he doing? I wondered. I planted myself next to my older brother, William, and then turned away frowning.

But upon peeking back curiously at my father, I saw him wipe his hand off on his sweater, a look of discomfort on his face—as if he were rubbing off the contamination of my germs made by our skin contact.

Tears came to my eyes.

I looked around at the rest of my family huddled in fear, inched a separate, yet respectable distance away from Dumbledore than the rest.

Petunia wore the same shroud of resentment and hostility on her face. My parents, afraid and angry, wore similar expressions, pulling their mouths down at the corners. I switched my gaze, questioningly to William, my one friend who ever waited for me at home.

He was miraculously unafraid of my being a witch, or in the rest of my muggle family's eyes: different from them—inhuman, a mortal sin. But he was who I found refuge in at home, or over the summer and the Christmas holidays when I was forced to come back. He may not understand my ways, but he was far from disapproving of them. In fact, he treated me as though I wasn't afflicted, unlike my other family. We had been through far too much. He was the only one I'd ever felt safe around. Trusted. Loved.

Of course my father had just held my hand for Dumbledore's and the rest's sake. We couldn't look like a broken family in public, I forgot. How could I ever let myself believe differently?

From across the room I saw James make eye contact with me, but I looked away again, for fear of what I would see there. The laughing had stopped. And the silence weighed us for a few moments before Dumbledore began to speak again. But I could also feel the eyes of the rest of James's family—his siblings and parents. I didn't even want to know what _Dumbledore_ would think of me after seeing me like this.

I bowed my head in humiliation.

They all probably thought I was crazy, thinking I was crying for no reason. I was sure that's what it looked like.

Filled with shame, I hardened myself against the tears till they dried. Then I leant against Will wearily, and he put his arm around me, comfortingly. I missed him so much, and in an odd way, I was glad he was here. If he wasn't I wasn't sure how the tears would have stopped.

This was no time to feel sorry for myself, I had to be strong. We weren't here for nothing, I thought.

We all stared up at Dumbledore as he pressed on.

"Now for the reason you're here." He looked hard at James and me. "The Ministry of Magic is on its guard. They have received warning that Death Eaters are about to invade."

I gasped, looking at James. He seemed just as shocked as I was.

"…and you as well as two others from both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons have been asked for."

"To _help_?" James's mother asked, horrified.

"Yes, they said for the _best_ in the school." James and I exchanged confused, timorous looks.

"So we're fighting," James said, or stated. I marveled at his steady voice.

I turned to see my parents' faces—their puzzlement. They had no clue what was going on. What any of this meant, like it was a different language.

But Dumbledore bowed his head in confirmation. I swallowed hard.

"What happened to all the Aurors?" I asked.

"The four aren't enough," he said in a hard tone, "Two have been killed and the number of Death Eaters has grown."

I gasped quietly.

"I thought there were more Aurors than six," Gwendolyn exclaimed.

"The Ministry's stopped taking more in because there have been too many cases of betrayal and spies to Voldemort," he said. "It was Alastar Moody who asked for you." The youngest, newest Auror—but he was said to be better than anyone. "I've called on your families to be here, to make sure it was okay with them that you leave, and do this… Not that they really have any sway in the choice. But to be here more for seeing you off." he added frankly.

James's parents, Alan and Gwendolyn grasped their boy with tears streaming down their faces. Whispered conversations between them and James sparked, and I turned to my family likewise for their reconcilement.

"Wait," my father said in a clear, astringent voice. "What are Death Eaters, what is this rubbish Ministry that you all are yakking on about?"

Dumbledore glanced up over his half-moon spectacles at my father. James turned around as well. "Death Eaters," Dumbledore began, "are a dangerous group of followers of a wizard named Lord Voldemort. And our Ministry of Magic is a place that contains many prized and glorious things of the wizarding community. Not to mention its lethal secrets. And I can inform you, sir, that our government is _not_ rubbish." I started at his clarity.

Everyone was staring now—my family, slack jawed and wide-eyed at their bluntness.

I blushed, casting my eyes away so I didn't have to feel their disapproval.

"I don't care what it is," my dad hissed, growing red in the face, "Lily Evans you are not going, do you hear me?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Mr. Evans, but it is not up for you to decide. Lily must go. Trust me it would not be so were there not lives at stake here. Miss Evans and Mr. Potter can help us. I have faith in them."

I looked gratefully at Dumbledore, and left my place to walk back over and stand on James's side. I hoped that would be point enough for my family. I was with them no longer. I looked at Will, and mouthed _I'm sorry._ He nodded in understanding.

"We need the strongest wizards."

"So you take children? That makes no sense," My mother uncovered.

"They won't be dueling _with_ the Aurors," Dumbledore said, coolly, "We have them assigned elsewhere."

I looked at the Headmaster with heavy puzzlement. What could that mean?

"Come now, we must be off. We are wasting precious time." Dumbledore motioned to us to stand next to him, and he gathered us up. I gasped. He was taking us away _now_?

"But sir—" I attempted to decline.

"Miss Evans, we are on a very tight schedule," Headmaster interrupted, smiling.

Suddenly, I was thrust into James Potter's clutch as Dumbledore prepared for A_apparition_. My skin was all electricity, as I looked up into his eyes. It was like back in the Hogshead again. I shook it off. There was no way.

"Professor McGonagall will show you the way out," he informed our families. "I can assure you that you ca trust me with your children. Tootle-doo." he said. We may be being thrust into a blind-sided and dangerous situation—but I may have underestimated Dumbledore's humor.

Suddenly I felt it, we were gone. And in a moment's passing, it felt as if all the force of the world were compacting onto us. There hardly felt room to breathe, the wind was being knocked out of me. My skull was being crushed, my eyes were being forced back into my head, and I couldn't move a muscle. I felt close to blacking out from the pain. But with the next stroke of the second hand on the Ministry clock, we arrived. I felt the cold stone floor underneath my feet. All was silent, the rushing feeling disappeared.

It lasted for about a second, and then everything was uncovered as if a veil lifted.


	4. The Captured Dragon

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**Lily **

Echoes of jinxes and curses ricocheted off of the metal surfaces and the tiled walls and the peacock blue ceilings of the Ministry in loud sizzles and pops. The sounds were deafening, our ears still ringing from the quiet back in Dumbledore's office.

Ropes of color shot past us through the air. Force fields, hexes, spell-blocks, and apparitions surrounded. Shots of green suddenly streaked past. I ducked. _Avada Kedavra_ was unavoidable. I ducked whenever could if I heard it. I heard it often.

The massive hall was the last thing from silent as the fighting inaugurated. Screams, shouting, cursing, and spitting were being flagged from all angles. Looking around me, I counted the number of Death Eaters I saw—though there were probably more waiting in different places. Thirteen. And the Aurors, I spotted at last over by the large, Fountain of Magical Brethren, on the other side of the lobby, where they were defending and initiating curses and spells at their enemies. But something was off. There were three. Where was the fourth? Had they gotten to them already? I hoped to god they hadn't.

They were moving too quickly for me to decipher who was there fighting and which Auror was missing. And they were defending the quickest I've seen. Not even McGonagall or our Defense against the Dark Arts professor could beat their speed.

A lot were fighting hard, sweating imperatively, and dodging fast curses being thrown at them. They moved in a sort of choreographed manner, like a dance. They fretted from left to right, manipulating each other in their movements, moving as one. I admired how they trusted each other, when one of their backs was turned; another took the spells, protected, and they did the same for the other. Their actions were so fluid, trained. And I realized right then, they probably didn't even need more on their side. The Death Eaters moved in an unorganized manner, focusing more on confusing the Aurors; whereas the four on the other side of the hall, were swift and gracious, never missing a spell or a curse, throwing back twenty more for every one they blocked.

It dawned on me that it was only a matter of time before the Death Eaters realized we were here. We couldn't linger watching too long.

Dumbledore motioned for us to follow, and I did, James behind me.

I felt his eyes on my back the whole way. I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking—why he was staring. A small notch in my mind screamed it was the obvious. My parents. He was probably wondering what Head Girl would be raised in a family like that. I was probably mud under his shoes now, in opinion as awful as that. A mud-blood with a brain, but with a malicious and unreliable family of muggles. I wouldn't blame him for being disgusted.

We slithered silently away from the Death Eaters, the only thing on my mind being how long we could possibly stay covered—and the ultimate: _what we were here for. _

**JAMES**

I trailed Dumbledore and Lily silently. I was on guard. Anyone or anything could come flying at us. And I was ready.

I _was_ curious about what happened to Lily in the Headmaster's office; but now was no time to think about something like that. All of our lives were at stake, and _anything_ could happen in any _moment_. So I pushed the burning thought into a whole different file in the back of my mind.

The place was filled to the brim with lethal enemies. Death Eaters. A sick satisfaction rolled into my lower abdomen.

It was two years ago that Sirius ran from home and showed up at my doorstep. Two years ago, he finally let spill all the details I had never known about his family—cousins, uncles, even brother and sister who were all followers of You-Know-Who, or destined yet. He told me his mother was an abusive, unpredictable, and a just plain _mad _woman, who all but encouraged those, her children. I knew Bellatrix Lestrange had dropped out last year, but I'd never really known the true reason why. She wanted a quicker exit, a faster way to get what she wanted—to be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's right hand beneficiary. And his brother, Regulus had fallen into You-Know-Who's hands right from the start. You could say he was destined.

But when all of this came tumbling out, all I'd wanted to do was help. But I was someone who was not one to provide.

Sirius was expected along the line of his family to join. Join them in their league with You-Know-Who.

Being born from a rich, giving family, I had no idea what it was like for him. But of course I wanted it to stop.

When he refused and rejected his future with his family, his mother went ballistic. Bonkers. A complete nutter after that. She screamed after him as he ran, catching the Knight Bus, shouting threats, she'd kill him if he ever came back. She completely disowned him.

Sirius Black was not a man of tears. He rang in after being dropped off by the Knight Bus—and he was happier than ever. I never understood him. My parents let him stay of course, the folks they are.

And after that, it was probably the last I'd heard of it. But I did know one thing. If Sirius didn't want revenge on his family. I certainly did.

**LILY**

I recognized a few of the passageways from few trips to the Ministry when I was younger, brought by Earnest, to come see her father.

We passed the rows and rows of fireplaces of the Atrium, and finally came to stop before one of the many lifts that half crowded the hall.

Dumbledore put a steady finger to his lips, and guided us into the open lift. It made a fine, loud screech as the fence of the lift and then the doors came closed. My heart stopped for a whole second, hoping the blasts would somehow mask the noise. It was silent for one moment, and then I noticed a Death Eater had looked up.

**JAMES**

The lift carried us up to Level Four: Department for the regulation and control of…. Magical Creatures?

"Ehh, Sir," Lily asked.

He looked down at her inquisitively. "Yes, miss Evans?"

"What will we be doing on the floor of Magical Creatures?"

"You are saving a dragon."

It looked like Lily was going to lose it. "A dragon….?"

"Yes. A dragon has been under hostage, Death Eaters are using her to distract us from what they really want; though, we have already _figured out_ their plan."

"Sir, is this what our jobs here are," I asked, brain wrought with confusion. I'd pictured something more different. I knew we weren't going to be fighting them straight-on, but what in Merlon's name were we going to do with a dragon?

"Alright." Dumbledore stalled the lift. "I'm going to explain to you two what we are to do here. With or without my presence, you are to follow this order." We nodded. How I felt like a first year again. "I am going to accompany you into the room where they're keeping the dragon, it's a baby, and she's very, very valuable. But the Ministry cannot afford to lose her. And you listen to me. We must successfully fend off the Death Eaters, and place her safely away. I'll be doing the fighting. And while I've got them distracted, you run with the dragon.

"There will be an Auror waiting for you at the end of the dragon restraint bureau, which is where we will be. Follow him out, to the end of the hall, back to the lifts. This is all you need to know for now. I strongly hope you both have got that all down."

Every detail of this information seemed to soak into my brain with a very quick intensity—the amount that we needed to remember seemed to hit me like a brick. There was no time to contemplate it. It all seemed to go through one ear, and out the other. I just hoped for now, that maybe what Dumbledore said is still there somewhere in my brain. When the time was right, we would let the pieces, according to Dumbledore's plan, fall where they may. And not only that, we would save the dragon, win our Headmaster's praise; and let the Death Eaters cry at the feet of their master.

**LILY**

The lift door and gate creaked slowly open, as if testing our angst. All of what Dumbledore had said was a lot of information, information that needed to be learnt and remembered fast. I was pretty sure I had it, though.

Stepping out of the unstable box, and onto more cold, stone floor, we moved silently. Screeches and inhuman noises were heard down the corridor. I glanced down the hall, the room from in which the screeching was sounding seemed like a lifetime away. We started down the empty lane, rugged stone, which turned abruptly into cool, smooth marble.

And walking beside Dumbledore and James, an immediate sensation shot through me. We could do this, I know we could.

We finally approached the edge of the long burrow, the opening of the vast open dome shaped room like a great belly spewed before us, which we now stood in the periphery of.

The source of the inhuman shrieking was suddenly visible, in the far end of the room. The baby dragon looked more to me not like a baby at all. I mean, I knew the infant ones looked like small lap dogs, could she really be that young? The dragon was a burgundy color, with dark red scales that shimmered down her body, a long snout that bore hideously large, jagged teeth like a shark; and a long, pointed tail that lashed like a whip. She was roughly the size of a cow, give or take. I was surprised. She had to be big for her age.

Death Eaters flanked her, they held her down with ropes and chains, but that was the only thing keeping her grounded. And there weren't many Death Eaters holding her down. But now that I looked around, I saw that they were scattered everywhere. Where did they come from?

Dumbledore cleared his throat, signaling our cue. All the men looked up, drawing their hoods from their faces, and it grew quiet.

A sudden rush of adrenaline and nerves surged through my body. But I had no time to panic. James and I exchanged an intuitive glance, and we both knew what to do in that second.

Then something amazing happened, a blast of blue fire escaped the dragon's mouth, emitting heat that warmed the whole room and set it alight for a millisecond. I stood there gaping, staring mystified. I had never seen a live dragon before now.

"Shut that creature up, damn it," one of the Death Eaters cried.

Another one turned to us. "Oh, look who our little Aurors sent. The great headmaster, and his little student apprentices." The Death Eaters laughed.

"You'll shut your damn mouth if you know what's good for you," James shouted, suddenly full of rage. I jumped.

I tugged at his sleeve, giving him a worried glance. "No need to defend me Mr. Potter, I've heard plenty of this before. Besides, you only have to remember the plan, focus on that," Headmaster whispered, behind us, and it sounded like he leaned in real close because we felt the whisper right in our ears.

But all of a sudden, the all too familiar hum of wands sounded, coming from across the wide room, the ropes and surges of spells smashing against the hard walls, too quick, exploding, raining color and noise.

I looked behind me, at Dumbledore for reconcilement, but he wasn't there. James looked also.

"What do we do," I asked, shell shocked, realizing he must have Dis-aapparated. "What if he can't take all those Death Eaters? There's so many—"

"We do what Dumbledore said to," he interrupted, hand on my shoulder. "We get the dragon."

I nodded, glancing back at the mess of disaster, the dragon stuck in the middle of all of it. She was wailing fervently, the loudness and aggressiveness panicking her. James and I ran straight into the chaos without risking another moment's hesitation. She quickly grew angrier seeing us approach, and shot out more heavy blue flames that felt hotter the closer we came. Though, just one more step away, we stopped short. The air seemed suddenly foggier, thicker, and harder to see through. It reminded me of the snow storm back in Hogsmeade, the depth, the blindness, and wondered how I could have possibly forgotten that—what happened down there—what we both originally thought we were in trouble for. It turned out to be for this. What an odd turn of events, and I wondered if Dumbledore really knew. Should I tell him when this was all over with, or would it be better to just keep it to ourselves? Surely Malfoy would get to him first if we kept it secret.

We were upon the Death Eaters now, the baby dragon looming over us about a foot. We passed the men in hoods unnoticed, the smoke taking on a camouflage affect. It must have been Dumbledore; he was far enough ahead of the game to prepare a cover for us.

I saw, as I examined the dragon's traps, that three of the ropes were already loose; we merely had to undo another, and then work on the chains. I signaled to James to get the last rope, while I started on the chains. He nodded in understanding, and disappeared. I took my wand, and pointed it at the metal links, knotted roughly around the baby's talon.

I whispered _Alohomora_ pointing my wand at the heavy bolt locks, hoping the charm used for unlocking will work and unlatch. But I find no such luck. Next I tried _Diffindo,_ normally used to split seams, and found myself in the end trying to pry open the locks with just my hands. I knew no other spells, curses, or charms to free this creature and the chains are knotted so skilled and complicatedly, I gave up trying to free the knots after about a minute. I looked over at James. The rope had come free, and now he was making his way over to me.

Death Eaters darted around us, but they were busy trying to keep dangerous flames, elemental catastrophes like small but powerful tornadoes, storms, and bodies of water at bay. Thank whatever mighty and holy god is out there for giving us Dumbledore.

"What's taking you so long?" he asks.

"The chains aren't letting up!" I whispered.

"Here." He bent to try and loosen the thing himself, but it results the same for him.

Then a heavy hand landed on my shoulder. I looked over to find a man in a black cape, his skeletal mask still glued to his face. A deep shock and dread filled the pit of my stomach. But I clutched my wand in my hand, relentless.

A growl came from behind the mask, and I was surprised to hear it was a girl's, pitched higher, strangely familiar. "What do you think you're doing mudblood?" I'd heard that voice snarl the same way so many times. And then it hit me.

James cried out in fury, was out of my reach and flying at Bellatrix LeStrange before I had time to stop him or register what was going on.

By this time, more Death Eaters had heard us, and more were turning on us, rather than Dumbledore. I shouted _stupefy_, making sure to aim at the wretched girl's head. But it was deflected. A fury almost matched to James's hit me, and I found myself on the floor, beating her too. But I was being pried off, and manned down by another Death Eater.

"LET ME GO!" I screamed. Luckily my wand was still in my grip. I didn't miss this time, turning uneasily in his strong hold, to get a steady shot. He fell to the floor. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins.

I didn't know where James was, but I could hear his shouts and grunts as he fought, so I knew he was still alive at least. I had no other choice but to defend myself as more and more Death Eaters came at me, shooting unavoidable curses my direction, and as I got a glimpse of James out of the corner of my eye. I realized we were ignoring the baby dragon, our real reason.

I came back to back with James, intellectually teaming up, fighting from all angles, defending one another. It definitely felt strange to be on his side this way, but there was no time to over-analyze.

Where was Dumbledore? I guess he'd fended for us as best he could. But, not forgetting out his plan, I turned my head and shouted over to James.

"How do we get the dragon?" I had to practically scream above the sound of shouts, curses, and spells deflecting off the tile, and the dragon's unbearable screeching, making it hard to even think, let alone reform the plan in my head.

I felt him take my arm. "On tree!" he called. And I knew we would be tricking them. On three we turned, but didn't move, throwing the remaining Death Eaters off. They were expecting us to run. I snickered at the look of shock on the faces beneath the masks.

We used the power of both our wands on each chain, directing them at the spikes in the ground, abandoning all previous thoughts of what didn't work last time. I hoped beyond hoped it would and spare us our lives.

And it did, I let out the breath I seemed to be holding against my straining lungs, and ran to the next chain. But Death Eaters were already there, blocking our path.

_Expelliarmus! _One of the hooded men shouted.

I gasped as my wand shot out of my hand. Great, now what were we supposed to do? The Death Eaters had my only weapon of defense, and the chains needed the power of both to break. I sighed in fear and vexation. James had the good sense to block the disarming spell before it hit him too, but I just stood there helplessly. James got to work on the chain, the last one, despite our current issue.

The dragon, looming over us, was frightening in her state of irritation and shell-shock. She lashed out and moved about dangerously, her tail sharp like a whip flew by us.

But within a matter of seconds, the last chain broke, and dissolved into dust. I stood there in shock, and then I looked over my shoulder. Dumbledore had done it. I let out a breath I forgot I was holding. Where did he come from?

While Dumbledore and James began taking down more Death Eaters, I ran to go reclaim my wand, amazed at how far it was thrown. When I returned, all of them were unconscious, either lying in bloody heaps against the cold marble, or lying stiff and stunned, their unblinking eyes turned upward. There seemed to be less Death Eaters when they were all sprawled on the ground. Or was it just me?

James stood up from leaning over one of the bodies, holding something in his hand. In the glimmer of the light, I saw it was a large, silver ring of old-fashioned keys.

I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. We had accomplished one thing so far.

I looked to Dumbledore. He held the dragon by a chain around its neck like a leash.

"We got them," James sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"But it's only a matter of time before some of them wake up, or we're found by more," Dumbledore said, but his eyes were shining too. "I'm very proud. You two handled this situation rather well considering the circumstances." I smiled happily, and James and I met gazes. "But James is right. We don't have long, so we should get a move on before any of them wake up, or becomes obvious to the others that their companions are dead."

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

Dumbledore looked to James, and James pulled the key ring into view, looking in the direction opposite in which we were standing. I followed his line of sight, and saw a frighteningly massive, heavily locked metal door.

"What I told you before," Dumbledore said clearly and eloquently, behind our turned heads. "You two go on through that door, taking her," he held out the chain-leash for the dragon. I looked and saw he was holding it out to me. I took it, surprised. "And I told you someone will be waiting to give further instructions to you." The missing Auror, I recalled wondering what had happened to the fourth earlier. "I must leave you from here." Dumbledore looked us over with the familiar calm back in his features, and nodded reassuringly, before stepping back through the now silent warren.

**Reviews?**

**-Holly**


	5. John Dawlish

**Chapter Five**

**Lily **

We messed around with the keys for a while before finding the one that fit the wide, chunky lock, and then the bolt turned with a satisfying click. The door was heavy, and it took both of us to try and heave the door open on its ancient hinges until it was finally cracked wide enough for us to fit both ourselves and the dragon through.

The place we entered now was dark, almost completely black; I wouldn't have been able to see anything if you put it right up to my nose. The air was thick and damp, and surprisingly cool. By the constant tug and heated grunting coming from behind me, I knew the dragon was still behind us, I felt it's hot breath over my shoulder as we made our first steps through the blackness.

James was beside me, and I could feel his warmth coming through his skin. I shivered.

Walking a bit further, I realized no one seemed to be here but us. Where was the Auror Dumbledore said would be waiting for us? Did he lie? What if we had we been fooled by a Death Eater pretending to be him, sending us into a trap?! No, he wouldn't have been able to get into the castle then, where we spoke in his own office. But he could've been a different person in disguise when he came back and he could've pretended to help us, just to corner us in this hall.

My pulse quickened. Oh god, I hope it's not true. I told myself I was just over-thinking things again. Someone had waiting for us down at the end of the hall, I was sure.

I thought through the silence for a moment. Now might also be one of my only chances at talking to James for a while. That could be a good distraction for now for both of us. How long would it be until we could have an actual conversation again? Definitely not again while being here, at the Ministry. And for all I knew, there was a chance we wouldn't make it out alive. So I took my chance.

"James?" I heard him turn to me in the dark, cramped space.

"Lily?" He mimicked amusedly. I ignored him. But his breath was on me. My heart beat faster all the more. Snap out of it Lily, I ordered myself. I cursed under my breath.

"Er. . ." I uttered, fumbling with my hands. It was now or never. "Why did you follow me out of the Three Broomsticks?"

I waited timorously for his answer. "Is now really an appropriate time to talk about this?"

"Just… please answer?"

He paused as if contemplating. The silence seemed to go on for ages. "I was worried about you."

"Oh."

"Anyone would be if they saw you just stumble out into a blizzard like that, especially in what you're wearing." I looked down impulsively and though it was dark, and barely discernable, I knew that I was still wearing the same blouse from earlier. I flushed with embarrassment. In front of my family. . . Dumbledore. . . I noticed James never returned a second glance at me in this. I was never more grateful than now for him not staring for once.

"I mean, why did you save me, protect me even with your girlfriend there? I could have taken care of it myself." I took a much needed breath and tried my hardest to decipher his face through the gloom.

I noticed we had stopped. How far along were we through this strange room- halfway? Or were we in a tunnel? I didn't care that we were probably making the Auror wait.

"You wouldn't have been able to stop them, Lily," he growled. "Death Eaters are powerful, and they would have killed you. And I don't think you would have gotten very far passed out on the ground like that…"

I sucked in a stubborn sigh. "I- I ….," James had gotten me again. "If you would have just left me—"

"_Listen!_"

"Why Potter? So I can hear more of how great a hero you are? 'James Potter the great Gryffendor seeker saved poor Lily Evans from the fatal grasp of Death Eaters in Hogsmeade'. I can almost hear the school's praises now."

He grabbed my arm as I began to step angrily away. James sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as if trying to bring himself down from a hot ten. But when he spoke, his voice was softened. "I'm sorry for that. For making those rude comments to you in the pub, it really was unnecessary. And for always causing you trouble with the Marauders, for taunting you in the halls… I know it was stuff like that, that really ticked you off."

I pulled my arm from his grasp, and with frustration, tried to ignore the intense burning his touch seemed to leave.

I took a moment to think things through. Through the anger it dawned on me that he _really_ meant it. And James Potter actually _apologized._ That was a big step. Now it was Lily Evans's turn. I had been truly rude to him, about Matilda, about _rescuing_ me—saving my life! He saw how my own parents treated me, treated Dumbledore—stood without comment as they practically insulted the whole wizarding race. I had a lot of things, I realized, to apologize for. I tucked a lock of my red hair behind my ear.

"Thanks James," I said. I leaned back, supporting myself against the cool rough wall behind me as I spoke. "I'm sorry too, I suppose you did save my life, I'm sorry for being upset at you that you did. It's very ungrateful of me. I'm sorry for being a bloke to Matilda. And lastly…I know this is a lot but…" I took another breath. "My family insulted you—every right we have at being witches and wizards, and most especially hurt your family and hurt Dumbledore. They humiliated me in the worst way. And I'm sorry you had to be there and see that." It was silent for the longest time, and I wondered if James was still there, or if I was only talking to the opposite wall.

Then he spoke, causing me to jump. "Lily." His hand brushed mine, setting fire to my skin again. "No one should have to live like that. _I'm _sorry. Your life away from Hogwarts must be hell. I never even knew what kind of life you had." I thought about his words, and there was another moment of silence between us. I felt so bad. James had felt sorry for me. And I had treated him like nothing more than dung. He had saved my life for no more reason than being concerned for me. And I had still acted with the same conduct toward him. The weight of the guilt that set in the pit of my stomach almost pulled me to the floor. What was I going to do?

"It doesn't matter now. None of it does." I felt the heat of his hand next to mine withdraw as he pulled it away.

"I always thought you just saw yourself as high and mighty, you know, Head Girl," he laughed, but there was a hint of intonation in it—as if wondering if I still, in fact did.

We had continued our tread at his suggestion, and he lugged the dragon-toddler along.

I never remembered acting that way. But from all the stares I seemed to get when speaking to James, or walking around the castle during lights out as Head Girl, the accusing stares when I lost our house points from being a smart ass.

But now that I thought upon it, I did act that way. I did have a narcissistic air didn't I? But at home I was different, I tried my hardest not to seem mean and weak. I did as I was told, and never questioned why, or asked for anything short of what I got. I guess a part of me needed to come out when I was at Hogwarts. A different part, one that wanted someone to suffer as I had. Had I subconsciously singled out James?

Another wave of shame washed over me. I had been as bad as my own family! And remembering what I had gone through—many sleepless nights, days of hunger, and snide remarks from my family that led to constant tears and self hate. I was their own little house-elf, who cleaned and worked for them, harder when times were tough. Will was my only friend. I would sneak into his room sometimes for an escape. And I would lean on him when I cried. He was my only rock. But I also remembered another thing. None of this had started until I had gotten my first letter from the school, telling them that I was a witch, what that meant to them. I had never really been bad blood to them, until then.

I was a horrible person. Two faced. I was just as bad as my parents. And I knew to treat someone the way they did, it was inhuman!

At the dawning of this realization, I had stopped short, and sunk to the ground, forgetting that I was still just one step in front of the dragon, and I felt it nearly collide with me. But it didn't, but he seemed agitated at the sudden stop again. The beast snorted and clawed at the ground impatiently, and I swore I could feel the irritation aimed toward me. But I really didn't care at the moment.

James looked over his shoulder at me, in shock. I heard his quick scuffle as he came near me and squeezed past the dragon to get to me. He twisted her chain a little, making it too tight, and she went completely berserk, so he just let go of her for a second.

Wracking sobs shook through my body. I couldn't help myself. I buried my head in my hands. I felt James sit beside me, pause for a moment as if unsure of what to make of the situation, and then I felt his hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles.

"I'm so sorry, James," I choked out. I probably seemed mental right now.

"I-I was so horrible to you; I'm surprised you don't hate me for it!"

"Actually Evans," he admitted, "I did hate you for it. For a long time."

I laughed, wiping the tears away. "Who would blame you," I asked with a hard tone. I forced myself to gulp down my tears, trying not to let another sob out. I sniveled.

"I did." James said. "But I've been trying to make it up to you for about the past year…"

"But I wasn't having any of it," I finished for him.

"I guess not. But it's okay. It looks like we have somewhat of an understanding between us." I sighed, and my chest shook with the strangled breath. "Come on," he said standing up. "We have a mission to complete." I felt him grab my hand and pull me to my feet, just like in the Hogshead, when he had ignored my measly attempted protests.

How my feelings had changed in such a short amount of time.

"…So are we friends?" I asked hesitantly. My heart felt heavy and cold like a rock, as if afraid of his reply, ready for rejection.

But when he did, I let out a relieved breath. "Sure, Evans," his tone was so light; I couldn't help but feel happy again as well. In fact I was suddenly so happy, that I went to take his hand again.

"…Lily…" I paused, and realized my mistake at once. I went to take my hand away, puzzled at myself, but reluctant all the same; when he grabbed it back again and said, "No, Evans. This is nice."

I didn't even know what to think.

**JAMES**

What was I doing? I was actually holding Evans's hand! Since when did my feelings for her change? Sure we were friends now, but I had buried my fancy for her long ago.

I didn't want to think about the ordeal with her family until I had the chance to think about it alone, but I suppose I had no choice now. And everything I had just said came kind of spilling out. I did mean it though, I figured as I thought back.

I remembered how my parents had reacted back in Dumbledore's office. My father had been furious, promising utter wrath. But my mother, on the other hand, was very understanding. She held nothing over Lily. She took one look at her and held complete pity. Lily's feelings were completely wrong about them.

Should I mention this, leave her wandering? What? What was I supposed to do from here?

I took a deep breath. "…Lily. . ."

I felt her green orb-like eyes on me, and before I could continue, she let go of my hand as if it burned her.

I realized what she thought I thought, and snatched her hand back. "No, Evans, this is nice…"

"Oh," she muttered and squeezed my hand. At least she had stopped crying. I tugged her along and we kept moving.

"I meant, well I was going to say…" I hated stuttering like this… "That my parents don't think you're awful… they may have been shocked by what you're family's said but they don't think you're a disgrace or anything…"

She sighed. "Thanks James." I squeezed her hand.

When her father pulled her away to stand with the rest of her family, shoving her next to her brother, then wiping his hand as if Lily was contaminated, I couldn't not think about it anymore, I had felt utter hatred. I didn't even know what I knew now. But I did know that Lily did not deserve that. How could you treat your own family that way?

And right now, I saw the Lily that I saw in Dumbledore's office.

The Lily that was timid and thoughtful— almost scared. She wasn't bossing, scolding, or shouting at anyone. She was just Lily. And now I knew why she was the way she was.

**LILY**

We had reached the end of the tunnel. It was as dark as ever, and the chilling air seemed to suffocate us as we reached the rough, stone wall dead end.

There was a long moment of silence. There was no Auror. No one. We had been mislead. Was there some fork that we didn't know about and we went the wrong way?

James and I exchanged another glance of perplexity and fear, and just when we tried to think of what to do next, there was a rumble, like the sound of dirt falling, and the creak of un-oiled metal.

We both whipped around.

There was a gloved hand sticking through the wall of the tunnel, it was holding a dim lantern. It was followed quickly by a face as the head belonging to the arm peaked through as well. It was a dirty face, covered in black, its hair a mess, the tips white as if they had been singed by fire.

"Who are you?" James asked with defiance.

"Don't worry, I'm an Auror, Dumbledore said there were two kids who'd need help, and he sent me down here to wait for you." His accent was strange; it lacked the drawl we English spoke with. He sounded American.

"How do we know we can trust you?" I asked.

"Ask me a question that Dumbledore would know and a Death Eater wouldn't," he offered.

I looked at James. How would we know what to ask that a Death Eater wouldn't know?

"Alright… What are you supposed to be taking us to…?"

The Auror didn't blink. "I'm to take you to Gringotts Wizarding Bank."

I caught James watching me out of the corner of his eye. I knew what he was silently asking me. Should we trust him?

"You have a dragon with you, no?"

The dragon. I looked behind me, all around me. No dragon. I thought back. Damn. We had forgotten to take its chain again when we continued walking again.

"I thought you had it!" I squealed moving wildly around the tiny space, looking for the lost scaly beast. Where could she be?!

How could we have possibly lost a dragon?

"Um we did…"

"What does that mean?"

"I don't exactly know. She was just right here…" James trailed off.

"You're telling me you lost the dragon?!" The Auror asked with a voice laced in anger.

There was a loud cackling and a rushing sound from behind us, and then an immense heat seemed to snake close through the tunnel. But the fire wasn't close enough to burn us. It was the dragon, I knew it immediately.

The heat slowly retracted, and then before I could make another move, James sprinted down passage, and what could I do but follow? The Auror was close behind.

I found James and the dragon near the mouth of the tunnel, the beast was sitting on his rear, nudging a figure on the floor with a taloned paw.

James bent to turn the body over, but a hand stopped him. "You should let me handle this," the Auror grunted, pulling out his wand from his trench-coat pocket. With it, he turned the body on its back, poised to call out a curse or spell any second if it was a trick.

But the body was as still as ever when it was turned over, and the man was wearing a cloak the color of night over his robes, a black hood pulled low over his face. This man was a Death Eater.

I gasped in shock. So this is what the little beast had run away for, had she sensed an enemy present, or had she just stumbled upon someone who was trying to get her to do something she didn't want to do, and killed them? It seemed like an extraordinary coincidence, but I felt a surge of pride toward her either way.

I took his chain, and patted the dragon's head.

"Smart girl, you knew exactly what to do," I said. The dragon let out a satisfied huff, and I could swear it was grinning.

I turned with a smile to the Auror. After feeling for his pulse in his neck, the man stood up. "Yep, he's dead. I just wanted to make sure."

"Thanks," James said. "I think we've got your trust now," he turned and we met glances. I nodded.

The Auror stuck out his hand. "The name is John Dawlish." He took both of our hands, shaking them with a firm grip.

"Yes, that dragon is a very special dragon."

"How so?" James asked.

"Well, first off, she's a Liondragon, otherwise known as a Chinese Fireball. She's one of the cleverest of her kind, but I think most of the credit there goes to her training at Gringotts. That's what she does; she can tell the difference between one that has good intent and one that is trying to take advantage. She's as sharp as a Hippogriff."

"What does she do at Gringotts?" I asked bewilderedly.

"She guards the vaults. I thought you knew that." John was rubbing the dragon's snout, a tongue slithered out of its beak and she began licking him. Dawlish seemed fearless as she did so, and even gave her a kiss on the head in return. It was as if they met before.

"No, we didn't," I recalled. "They must not teach it because it's such an important secret. It's not even in the books."

"Hmm. I suppose it wouldn't be good for the whole wizarding race to know what guards our most valuable treasures," John mused.

"So what are we doing now," James asked.

"Follow me," Dawlish winked and turned around, leading the way back down the dreary tunnel. James was beside me again as I trailed the dragon behind both of us, but the walk was silent this time. Before I knew it, we were at the dead end again, and Dawlish was sticking his head through the wall, looking like one of the headless huntsmen. He came out again, and waved us forward.

"C'mon, it's clear." He then proceeded to step all the way through the wall, it was like the platform 9 ¾ back on the Hogwarts express. But where did he go?

I looked to James, and could feel a question on my face, and I knew what he was thinking. It was what I was thinking. Was it safe? How did we know? There really was no way to know except to find out ourselves.

James stepped forward first, and he disappeared like the Auror did. It was a second before I poked his head back through.

"Are you coming?" He said.

I nodded. "Can you take the dragon," I asked. He took the chain leash from my grasp, and slowly led the dragon through. I followed, and felt the wall melt away in a cool breeze, and suddenly I was on the other side. I was standing before more tunnels, but there was light, now. We were at an intersection. There were around twenty different openings before us, going off in different directions, even circling about behind and stopping at the blank wall from which we had just emerged.

All three of us stood there in silence for a moment. I looked around me with no idea where we were.

We followed John Dawlish as he approached a tunnel that had a symbol in the wall above it of the face of a goblin and a pile of coins, as if it were carved into the stone.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking at the rows of tunnels in awe. "I've never heard of this place before."

"We're at the Crossing. It leads to all Ministry coalitions. Diagon Alley, Kings Cross, Hogsmeade, Azkaban, St. Mungo's hospital, other wizarding schools, etcetera…" Dawlish said, glancing up at the tunnels' entranced himself.

"Wow," I said.

"I'm sure there is a lot you don't know about the Ministry. Now come on, we don't have much time." We began our trek down the tunnel to Gringotts, and James still held the dragon in hand. I snuck a peak at him out of the corner of my eye. He was walking with a thoughtful expression on his face.

I wondered what he was thinking about.

The column we were walking seemed to never end. We could have been going in circles, passing the same things over and over, or we could have been trekking uphill or downhill, and I wouldn't have known. It was just a dim, endless path stretching before me, rocky underfoot and wide from wall to wall. The smell of compacted dirt that hadn't been disturbed until now as our footsteps stirred it in clouds and filled the air, with a mixture of rotted wood as we came across some abandoned tracks that must've been very handy at first before they cut this place off.

And then we suddenly stopped. I bumped into James. "Sorry," I gasped.

But he wasn't paying attention. We both stood there and watched John Dawlish watch the space in front of him.

"I'm almost positive it's here," he said.

"What's here?" I asked. I didn't see anything except the length of the dirt and tracks along the stone passage stretching out still. The same thing they'd been watching for what seemed like hours.

"Wait," James said. He held out his hand, stretched out his palm, and then paused as if he had touched something solid.

"Clever boy. You can see it as well, I see."

James smirked.

"I don't see anything— what are you —" But I bumped into the solid surface right then, as I walked forward two steps.

"Ow!" I held my forehead. I heard snickers from behind, and I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks.

"Lily, Lily," James ticked.

"Shut up," I said, beat red.

**JAMES**

The girl was as red as a tomato, she almost matched her hair, I thought, looking at Lily, always blind with logic—after she thumped right into the invisible wall.

"Lily, Lily," I ticked, chuckling.

"Shut up," she hissed, elbowing me in the ribs.

"Shush, you two. I can tell already you pair are going to be a problem," John Dawlish said. Lily's face reddened again and she looked angrily at me.

And she's back, I thought.

"If you look closely, you can see it," Dawlish continued, pointing out the transparent fibers in the air that made it as solid as a wall.

I honestly couldn't see it, at first, like Lily. But now that Dawlish was pointing it out before us, I almost could decipher a slight catch in the atmosphere.

Lily bent to peer closely at the point which Dawlish was still staring at, nevertheless. She pulled back with a gasp. A mirror. That was what the hard surface was. What I saw, what Dawlish saw as well.

"Impossible," she mused.

'It's a form of the _Conjunctivitus _charm_, _meant to confuse the seer and contort one's vision. Someone who's not supposed to be here doesn't know what they're looking for. But if you do, you'd see this, this reflection, so to speak. It reflects what's behind the seer, but not the seer themselves. Therefore, they perceive more of the same path before them, but by the rounded corner," Dawlish motioned to the twist in the dirt walk behind them, "in their confused state, they think they're at a dead end, and turn around."

"But what if they don't turn back and bump into it like I did?" Lily asked.

"They would have been prompted by the charm to turn by then, but if they didn't, they would have walked right through it, and be back where they started, or be so confused, that turning back would be the only logical option for them. But with you, Lily, Mr. Potter already knew there was something there. And I had stopped and to try to make you see what we saw, and the mirror already knew you were trying to look for it- you already half knew what it was, but not quite, so the charm showed itself just a little, but you bumped into it anyway, but then, after that you could see it."  
"That's very clever," she muttered.

"Indeed." And we both watched as John Dawlish drew out his wand from the inside of his cloak, and waved it over the distorted atmosphere, turning the solid mirror to mist, that hung elusively in the air for a moment as if it simply appeared from evaporating the indistinct glass, and then Dawlish was motioning us to follow again.

He stepped right through the mist and disappeared. Lily and I walked through together, dissolving, ourselves, into the mist, before reemerging in a completely different place.

I blinked away the clouds in my vision and stared in awe as I realized where we had arrived.

**Reviews? You're all lovely, and appreciated immensely. **

**-Holly**


	6. The Chase

**CHAPTER SIX**

**LILY**

After the cloud of mist evaporated, I found myself standing on either side of James and John Dawlish before the underside of Gringotts.

The walls looked like they were carved straight from the inside of the earth, with roots, bits of rock, showing through the moist dark dirt of the rounded walls, of the same compacted texture of the tunnels of the Ministry, but with a different, wetter consistency, as if this part of the passage had been more recently renovated that the past entrance. It even smelt different down here. Almost older. I knew we were far below the surface of the earth. The vaults down here stretched on for miles, I once read. Of course I've never been here, only learned about it in books.

We didn't even need to pass through the bronze and silver doors or walk along the marble floors, a goblin leading us tediously into its depths. How long would that have taken? It seemed like hours, seeing how deep we were.

But here we were, but a few steps away from the Ministry itself, yet at the same time leagues beneath London.

James still had the dragon's chain gripped tightly in his palm. I vaguely wondered how the dragon faired from wandering through magic portal after magic portal.

I barely had time to formulate another thought before Dawlish began to silently lead us through Gringotts. We passed more walls, all different heights textures, not all of them even roughly curving up over our heads, but square and even in some parts where it looked like some vaults were starting to come into sight. And before I knew it, we had left the sparse empty walls of the other tunnel and came upon some tracks that looked more modern and appeared to be accompanied by a small trolley pooped out at the end, where the population of a frightening number of vaults lined each side. Peering into the distance, I couldn't tell where it ended, if it ever did.

We walked down the tracks for a few minutes when Dawlish held out to his hand, and I almost bumped into James again. We were standing there silent, as Dawlish's feature became trained on something else. I was about to ask what was going on when he turned quickly to us and answered my question. "I hear something coming down the way. Hurry. Hold on to the dragon!"

"What?"

"Grab the chain both of you," he said in a furious whisper. "Hurry!"

John Dawlish took the chain from James, and told him to hold to his waist, looking at me to do the same. I didn't know how on creature of this size could carry the weight of all three of us. But I didn't question it for once, I was too tired to. So I just let myself give in to silent trust. I circled my arms around James and closed my eyes. I hardly noticed the ground and my feet pull away.

The dragon beat its wings, the sound reminding me of thunder in my ears, the wind swirling around us, tugging the three of us in all directions.

Before I knew it, we were soaring through the tunnels at an incredible speed. I was holding onto James for dear life. I choked on my scream, burying my face into James's shoulder. I just wanted the wind out of my eyes, but suddenly I was engulfed in his smell. And all at once I couldn't think about anything else. I didn't care if we never stopped flying. I just didn't really want to let go of him this second.

I didn't know how long we'd been in the air or how high we were, but I knew that thousands of vaults were now behind us.

I could tell when we started slowing. The wind had died down. New noises pierced my ears instead of the thunder. Grunts of men, loud clinking like someone was working with metal, and shouts—loud, angry, venomous shouts. I couldn't tell what they were saying or doing. I opened my eyes slowly, and found we were in fact about to land silently on a little rock bluff above one of the vaults. Across from us, I saw at the vault directly opposite us where Death Eaters stood, some guarding, some working, picking at the many gold nuggets and coins that were scattered all over the floor in piles and stacks, and some walking in and out of the ajar vault doors carrying large objects from them. I looked closer, and saw that they were giant burlap bags slung over their shoulders.

"The Philosopher's Stone. It's in one of those bags they have," Dawlish said, seemingly reading my thoughts.

"What's the Philosopher's Stone?" James and I asked in unison.

"Nicholas Flamel, the stone's creator made it in an elixir some eight hundred years ago, to live forever. And somehow it disappeared. No one knows what's happened to it. We think it was the Dark Lord. They were the ones who warned us."

I gasped in shock. "But what would they be looking for here if they already have it?" I asked.

"Well someone had stolen it from You-Know-Who as well. And now he's in a frenzy trying to get it back. Getting his followers to do whatever they have to, to get it back, no matter the costs," he explained. "And now Flamel, being the genius that he is, made replicas, more than a million of them. None of them the real thing though. Then he spread a rumor that Gringott's is where they are. And the person who stole it back turned out to be one of our Aurors, and he collaborated, adding the stone to the vaults among the many other false ones, making it a one in a million chance that You-Know-Who will actually find it."

"Bloody hell," Lily said in awe.

"What is You-Know-Who going to do with the stone?" James asked.

"We don't know yet. We think he is somehow going to use it to overpower the Ministry. We're here to get it back. Place it somewhere safe, where he won't be able to touch it again."

"Is that what we're here to help with?" I asked, trading glances with James again. The look in his opaque eyes told me he was wondering the same thing.

"Yes." When John Dawlish said that, something hit me inside like a ton of cinderblocks. As if I was realizing for the first time, James and I were actually needed in this moment. And for just a short time, a time such as this, I was actually important, and I could help. We could help save the Ministry.

A furious passion rose up in me, and I looked down with defiance upon the Death Eaters who were trying to destroy everything I knew, loved. The wizarding world was my home, and they couldn't take it. And that's what I was watching them do right now. I wanted to stop them.

"Can we go down there?" I asked.

"We need to find a distraction to lure them away from this area so we have time to find the real stone. Though I doubt it will be easy, it could be in any of those bags."

"I have an idea." James said.

**JAMES**

Lily clinging to me the whole time was distracting. It felt like a cat with its claws stuck out, hitching right onto your back, and holding on for dear life. It was strange, but I kind of liked the feeling. Her breath coming in puffs through my shirt, her little whimpers when she felt like we were going to fall. When she let go, as we collected ourselves after we landed, her warmth immediately left me and I felt like shivering. Why? I wanted to hit myself. Falling for Evans again? I had sworn not to. Hadn't she humiliated me enough times by continuously turning me down? From first year, to fifth year she had tortured me. But I couldn't help it. Maybe I would never be able to.

I pushed my self-disappointment to the side as the three of us huddled into a tight little triangle to listen to my plan.

It was a brilliant one. And the Death Eaters wouldn't be expecting anything like it.

"Lily get back here! We didn't say to start the plan yet! You missed the signal," John Dawlish shouted, running after Lily. She had jumped off the little bluff, and had expertly levitated herself low enough to land safely on the rocky floor below. Dawlish had mimicked her move, and was now running after her.

"I don't care," she shrieked. Those Death Eaters are trying to take the only world I know away from me. You may not realize this, but I go home to nothing when I'm not at Hogwarts. And if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wins, I have nothing! I can't let them win, I'll do anything to stop them, and so help me if I don't get out of this alive," she screamed in rage.

I watched from the bluff, heart pounding against my chest, watching the scene below with utmost anxiety, adrenaline pumping through me.

Dawlish, losing Lily as she ran, slowly started to slow from fatigue and seemed to give up. But as a last endeavor, he threw a stunning spell at her. She deflected it, waving her wand behind her, sending the charm ricocheting away.

By this time, she had reached where the first gathering of Death Eaters stood. They were a little stunned to see her come out of no where, in such a fury. To them, it was a surprise attack. They stopped what they were doing and walked calmly over to her, wands out. They seemed to be whispering to each other, debating whether to call the rest over there to help them with the girl, or to stay and take her for themselves.

Please take the bate, I thought— willing them with all my might for them to call the rest of the hooded figures over. To get away with it, we needed all the Death Eaters in one place, to be diverted by one thing. And that was Lily. The plan was for her to start a fight, taunt them a little, get them to chase her, make them want to capture her for the Dark Lord. But Dawlish would secretly be with her under the safety of an invisibility charm, to protect her.

The woman had guts, I thought to myself. She was so willing to have the plan underway. I was surprised.

Lily stopped when she knew they saw her, and ran over, the group's full attention, she knew, was well on her. I could see them secretly hide their wands away again under their cloaks at her approach, but I knew the things wouldn't be out of their hands for long.

Now was her chance.

"Help! Please help," she begged them in her best struggled, desperate, out-of-breath-from-being-chased-to-death voice.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" One of the Death Eaters asked drawing calmly closer to Lily.

"Looks to me like we got a kid…," he marveled. "Not much older than sixteen. A little frantic isn't she? What we been running from, girlie?" another raspy voice asked.

"I was sent here by Dumbledore," she mumbled. Where was she going with this? Please don't give us away, I anxiously thought. "He said to come here through this portal, and I did, but I don't know what I'm doing here. All the Aurors and others left me. You have to help me— I swear I won't tell anyone you did," she begged.

Clever girl, I thought.

"What are you doing here? Tell us the truth. Your story doesn't seem too palpable."

"Are you lying to us?"

One of the others in the dark hoods elbowed his friend in the ribs. "Don't scare our new little friend off. What can we do for you, lovely?" The man took Lily around the shoulders and started to walk off with her.

Here was where my plan would take off.

"Sir, could you please let go of me?" She pretended to become severely panicked, and tugged out of his grasp. But he didn't let go. The surrounding Death Eaters pulled all of their wands out.

"Not so fast, my sweet," the one holding onto her with a deadly grip hissed.

My pounding heart was so loud I was afraid I would give myself away.

Lily pushed away from the man, and maneuvered her wand out in inexplicable time. "_Reducto!_"

And all the gathering men around her were thrown away, landing though, only yards from her. There came shouting as other Death Eaters, working a little way off nearer the vault, heard the commotion.

I watched as Lily paused for a heart beat, hesitating. Come on, you can do this, I silently urged her. Then she finally seemed to have reformulated the plan in her head, and took off, running the opposite way anyone would normally go, where the coast was somewhat clear, into the darkness stretching in the east; instead, running straight to where the waiting adversary were, the cesspool of Death Eaters waiting to eat her alive. She was kicking the first step of our plan into motion.

**LILY**

My heart was beating so fast as I ran, I couldn't be sure if it was beating at all; but the blood pumping loudly in my ears gave it away. I was terrified; I was running for my life. I didn't know how many Death Eaters were behind me, but I kept on running, not even daring to look back, praying I wouldn't get hit with a curse and keel over dead, ruining the entire plan. If I did chance a peek behind me, I was sure to slow my pace, and get caught. So I kept going, one foot in front of the other, and hoping that I was doing the right thing, that I didn't mess the entire thing up already back there.

I wasn't thinking anymore. I was simply doing. Letting the rest of James's plan fall into place. My act was over. I just had to continue running, and wait for the signal from John Dawlish. I was to step immediately to the side where he would be waiting under an invisibility spell, cast it on me, and then wait for all the Death Eaters to continue running past thinking they were chasing me.

I ran and ran. The metal rails under my feet making it hard not to keep constantly watching me feet. The darkness was dank and heavy, and I felt like I was going in circles. The stone walls on either side of me closing in. And I was passing barred vault after vault.

But I saw no sign. What was I supposed to do now?

Suddenly Dawlish appeared in front of me with a loud pop and a cloud of smoke, startling me and I stopped dead in my tracks, letting out a wild scream.

His hand flew to my mouth. "Quiet!" His eyes darted behind me, and then back up to meet my eyes, relaying a silent message. I closed my eyes shut tight, preparing myself. And then Dawlish and I _disaaparated_ away again, just as foot steps were approaching behind us.

When I opened my eyes, we were standing back on the ledge where we had first left the dragon. I didn't see her now.

"Where's the dragon?" I knew where James was supposed to be. But did why'd he take the dragon?

I glanced below me, over the little cliff, and got my answer.

James with the beast, using the chains to control her fire aim as she roared at the Death Eaters with columns of fire emitting from her nostrils and mouth. Looking at the tiny thing, no one would expect so much power from her, but she surprised me again and again. He looked like he knew very much what he was doing, and the dragon finished her last breath of fire as a couple of Death Eaters scrambled away from the rage of flame. He was forcing away the rest of the Death Eaters, so we could safely rummage around down there without being caught— and with the others distracted by their chase for me, we had a good while as they scattered. It would take them more than a few minutes to reassemble and call for more help. But that was after they figured out that I had escaped them already. And then they would start to realize where I'd most likely have gone, and turn back.

Dawlish and I leaped from the rocky bluff, and joined James who clambered over rocks and torn up tracks to meet us.

"Good job," Dawlish granted, looking around him at the little piles of embers scattered on the charcoal ground. We stood in front of the wide open vault, gold, bronze, and silver littered the inside in tall, tilting piles. I knew that some of the vaults ranged from large, open spaces, or tiny compact boxes to hide your storage and savings. But no matter how big they were, each was used for the same purpose. This vault seemed to stretch on for miles, the stacks of money and gold, relentless in expense.

Why did one little stone need so much space? How were we ever going to find it in this mess? There are probably a million copies of the rock, masking the right one…

John Dawlish whipped out his wand and called out _Accio_ for the Philosopher's stone, but nothing happened.

There was a pause, and James asked, "What do we do now?"

"We check every bag and pile of gold, every corner of this room."

I looked around me horrified, at the sudden extent the room seemed to take.

Was he kidding?

**JAMES**

First we emptied every sack the Death Eaters had already gathered, but none fit the description John gave us. Half smooth, finely cut ruby with a dark blood-red center, and half with a shock of cement like rock on the other side. Finding nothing, we moved to the stashes of gold outside. We had begun sifting through every pile, sack, stash of gold, knots, sickles, and even galleons, but had come up with the same results. It felt like we spent hours probing the inside of the vault.

I was getting tired, and Lily and I exchanged a look that maybe we should get Dawlish and see what he thought about retiring. This wasn't going to work.

He was on the opposite end of the room, and was using his wand to throw the gold and coins, breaking them from their stacks, and throwing them against the wall. I assumed this was a quicker method of looking for the stone. Climbing over the stretch of gold was a hard task, it was like an ocean, piles rising here and there like hardened waves, that kept tripping me. It took longer than I expected to reach him, but finally, after stepping over the last pile of riches, I reached him. I was so tired of looking at all this money, I almost never wanted to behold a sight like this again. I didn't care that it meant being richer than the richest man alive owning as much as this. I was sure I didn't want to buy another thing again in my life.

I approached him and his back was to me, but he didn't turn at the sound of my footsteps. I hadn't noticed how he had gone still all of a sudden. But I noticed now, and he was looking down at something in his hands.

"Mr. Dawlish? We haven't had any luck with anything. I don't think we'll be able to find it in here." I paused. Dawlish was still unmoving, shoulders hunched, frozen staring at what was in his palm. But I continued, thinking he was just listening to me. "What if this is a trick? What if we're just wasting our time?"

Still nothing. And then Dawlish's hunched shoulders began to shake. "Sir?" I looked, worriedly around the massive room for Lily. She was gone.

"John?" I asked worriedly. I walked slowly around him, to see his face, what he was staring at.

And as I processed the sight before me, I froze in horror.

John Dawlish wasn't normal looking. His face was contorted, stuck in an odd expression, and seemed to slowly be morphing.

And then John Dawlish wasn't John Dawlish anymore.

I glanced around for Lily again, terrified. She had to be here somewhere.

Then I caught a glimpse of red hair out of the corner of my eye, and saw that it was in fact Lily, and she was running toward us, tripping so often over the stacks and bags, and had a look in her eye that shot a chill down my spine.

"Get away from him!" she shouted, just as I had returned my eyes back to the face of John Dawlish. His warm brown eyes had turned dead and cold, and the sun weathered skin on his face, a chalky pale. He glared at me with an indiscernible intensity.

I finally looked at what he was holding.

A trembling, white-knuckled hand held a goblet; silver rimmed and gracefully designed with curling letters, and twisted carvings. I couldn't read them, though. But it didn't matter. My gaze was strangely held by its beauty, snagged on it frozen in time. I still knew what was going on, still aware of my surroundings. I was only paying more attention to the cup than I normally would've anything. But as John Dawlish moved toward me, I suddenly snapped back to the present as my gaze was forgivingly released, and I was hit with heavy awareness again. But not before I was hit, I saw John's arm swing with the movement as it came crashing down on me with the force of a rushing train. And then blackness descended.

**LILY**

I knew it as soon as I saw Dawlish pick up something he'd found and paused frozen, that he had found it. I was able to see him from profile, and there was a look in his eye that spoke of relief and utter joy. I knew that something was wrong. I could feel it. And as a darker expression took over his features I knew I was right.

And then I saw James, making his way over to Dawlish across the valleys and hills of gold, and then finally approach him from behind to say a few words. But at John's indifference, went around looking at him dead on, and seeing what he had in his hands. The horror that was now taking over me seemed to make up for James's lack of it as he beheld what he did.

I didn't know what the Philosopher's stone was doing to him, but it wasn't doing any good. I could see it in his eyes. He was changing, the stone was messing with him somehow. What was the purpose of that thing anyway? Why were we here to save it?

Suddenly, from behind me, on the outside of the vault, there was the sound of falling boot steps and men's shouts. Death Eaters were coming. They couldn't be back already! James was still stuck in there with Dawlish.

I wanted to turn and go back to James, but what if we're outnumbered and attacked by more Death Eaters than we can handle? All I could do was scream a warning to him. I had to keep the approaching enemies at bay.

I pulled out my wand and ran to the entrance of the cave, where a group was gathering. Waiting. But it wasn't the group I was expecting.

"Hello there mudblood. Miss us?" Bellatrix LeStrange hissed as I approached.

It was the Death Eaters James, Dumbledore, and I had taken out in the Ministry. How did they get here? But I had no time to think about that, we were already throwing curses at each other. And their numbers, though about half decreased (some of them we had actually killed) were strong, and with more practiced arms.

What was I going to do? It was about eight to one. And I couldn't take them all on my own.

I looked back at where James and Dawlish were, hidden behind the safety of the vault's walls. And then it hit me. They were already safe. All I had to do was offer myself up, and find a way at the same time, to divert their attention from Dawlish and James.

After blocking a killing curse aimed directly at my heart, I dropped my wand arm, and ran, still holding onto the only thing keeping me alive. Just up and ran. This surprised the Death Eaters for a moment. And that's all I needed. Through the pause of their surprise, I could make it. One second head start. I sprinted all the way back to the entrance, still easily deflecting the spells, but throwing any myself was out of the question.

I stopped at the heavy metal door. I stood there for a minute. Should I warn them? Give them heed to my new self established plan? I looked behind me. Then screamed, hoping James would here me where ever he was in there. "I'M SORRY JAMES."

I used all of my power and strength, and heaved the giant round door shut. It swung closed with a loud bang, and I heard notches on the inside click locked. Done. We couldn't get out, and no one could get in, or get the stone. We were safe and when James and I had taken care of Dawlish, we'd figure out a plan. For now, I just hoped we'd be okay in here with him, and that the stone hadn't done anything too harmful yet. I'd heard about how much the power was in the stone. How much would touching it with your bare hands do? Dawlish wasn't wearing any gloves.

I collapsed to the ground in a heap, exhausted form running, too tired now to stand a second longer. I wanted to get to James, but I couldn't. I looked at the door, contemplating further escape. It didn't look like we could get back out of here. But I knew that once I got to James, we'd figure something out. Maybe trick the locks into letting us back out from the inside or something, or finding a crack to open wide enough in the side or something.

I heard bangs and clanking against the outside of the door, and I knew that as the Death Eaters. My heart was still pounding hard in my chest from the close encounter. But I knew nothing would be able to get through to us. We were blocked safely from them. At least for now. If they were shouting anything at all, it was indistinct enough through the three foot thick metal door so much that I couldn't hear it at all. But the curses sounded like the bashing or glass or porcelain being thrown. I listened in awe for a moment, unable to move or do anything else.

I waited until I could feel my limbs again and caught my breath, and then I got on my feet again and started looking around for James and Dawlish.

I couldn't see anything but stacks and stacks of endless gold. Oh god. What if I came back too late? It was silent. And I saw no sign of human presence in here. I took too much time back there. James could be dead. They could've left already, and I probably just locked myself in here alone!

Dread filled me up, coursed cold through my veins, locked me in place. I was caught between a dead panic and debating fight or flight.

I decided to continue looking for James anyway. I shouted his name over and over, my voice beginning to quiver as I grew more nervous. I combed through every nook and cranny where I could've missed him, searched all over, until all four corners had been thoroughly probed.

I was ready to give up. I found myself on the ground again. My voice was raw from shouting. And I was shaking. I could feel sobs building up, rattling the inside of me until I let them out.

Dawlish had escaped, that much I had concluded. James was either with him, missing, or dead. Either way, he was fated for the same outcome. And I was stuck here alone, no one knowing where I was. And I was going to die when the oxygen supply was gone, and the place being sealed tight, that was inevitable. From here it didn't matter what Bellatrix and the others did. James and I were defeated. And tricked.

So I just sat and waited, rocking back and forth.

I wondered what Dumbledore would do about this, surely our fucking up had caused some sort of ripple. We'd probably ruined everything. Or rather, I had. And if Dawlish had been able to fool James and I so easily, who else was out there pulling the same ploy?

Sudden rage boiled inside me. I got up, white with fury and I ran over to the vault door again and started banging on it and screaming. I screamed loud and continuously until I couldn't anymore. Until I couldn't form Dawlish's name on my lips anymore, no matter how much I still wanted to promise wrath. Nothing could release the bitter animal in me, no matter what I did. And I was blind to it. All I saw behind closed lids was James's face. My failure. Dumbledore. My future.

My fists still pounded even if my voice couldn't carry on. But my face was wet because now I was crying. I was crying so hard, that it was hard to breathe anymore. I was starting to hyperventilate. My hammering slowed, and it was then that I felt all the pain in my hands. I looked down and there was blood.

**JAMES**

I was roused by the most inhuman noise my ears had ever beheld. That was the first thing I noticed. The second was that there was a pounding in my head, a ringing in my ears that seemed to go along with it. Something weighed me down on my chest. I sat up, and the sudden change in altitude made me vertigo, and my skull pulsed, threatening another blackout. Whatever was on top of me clattered to the ground, and I could breathe easily again. I staggered up, spots in my vision.

The last thing I remembered was… what was it?

Where am I?

I looked haphazardly around me. Gold. Money everywhere. Gold was scattered all around me, fell away from my clothing. I had been buried under some. Looking around me, perplexed, I went over to a pile, knelt by it curiously and gathered a handful and let it sift through my fingers, watching it all fall back to the floor. Why was I here? How did I get to be buried under all of it? I wondered if I could take any and get away with it. I glanced around me, and seeing no one, stuffed some in the pocket of my trousers. Only a little. No one would know.

And then I remembered what woke me up. I stumbled around a little until I found the front of the room, and where the noise was coming from. Near the door, which looked like the door to a vault in a bank, was a curious sight. A girl beating, wild and rampageous on the metal wall crazily, furiously, with all her might. She was crying. Her knuckles were bleeding, little rivulets of red streaming down her arms. I was a little hesitant to approach her, but I decided it would be best to offer some help, maybe that was what she was trying to get.

As I came near, I heard little words on her breath. "James…. James…. I'll get to you, Dawlish… traitor…" She at one time was screaming it; I recognize now, the familiar articulations I'd heard at first. But now it was only an exhausted whisper. If not, a persevering one.

I came up behind her and cleared my throat. She stopped, and leaned her forehead on the wall, but she didn't turn around.

I tapped her shoulder, and she whipped around, eyes wide. And she rummaged for something in her cloak and found it, a stick, and pointed it at me. And then something in her eyes registered and she gasped. The stick fell to the ground and she pummeled me to the ground, her arms tight around me in a breath taking embrace.

"James!" She rasped.

"Huh?"

"James, where did you come from? I've looked everywhere for you!" She was almost crying again.

"James?"

She peeled away from me to get a good look at my face. "Yes. James. That's you. You can't remember?"

"Actually…. Umm. No. I don't know. Who are you?"

The look in her eyes made me want to comfort her.

"What happened to you?" It wasn't a question directed at me, I knew that. I just sat there, and watched as she tried to take something in, to process whatever situation.

"What happened to John Dawlish?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. But I woke up over there," I pointed to a little dip in the rivers and valleys of gold that I woke up in. "I was under a bunch of that gold."

"What?"

"Someone must've dumped it all on me."

"I searched this whole place! You were here the whole time, and I walked right past you!" She buried her head in her hands, forgetting the blood, and let out a shaky sigh.

"James, I thought you had died or were kidnapped... or just gone!"

"Well I'm fine. I'm right here…"

"No! You're not fine! You don't remember!"

"I'm sorry," I offered.

"No, it's not you're fault. At least you're here now." I felt her arms around me again. I didn't think it was weird. Sure, I didn't know her, and she obviously thought I was someone else. But I didn't mind it. I liked the way she smelled as she leaned in to me.

"How do we get out of here?" I asked.

"That's a good question. When I closed the door, it locked us in from the outside."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because we were being chased."

"By what?"

"That doesn't really matter right now. I'm too tired to explain that. But basically, you were in here with someone very dangerous and I was outside, about to be killed, so I thought we'd be safest in here, all three of us. And I thought if I could get to you, I could help you take care of the other man in here. We thought we could trust him, but he turned on us in the very end. I locked us in without thinking, because at least if we were in here alone, the people outside wouldn't be able to get in and hurt us. Because they would have if we'd let them."

"So we don't know what happened to the third guy?"

"No. I haven't been able to find him. Or you for that matter when I came back and started looking for both of you."

"So you left me alone with him…"

"Yes."

"Why?!"

"I was coming right back!"

"He probably got away then."

"Yeah. And I'm assuming that while he was doing that, you got knocked out somehow, and he tried to hide you, or bury you. He probably thought you were already dead, and that's why you're not right now- or he didn't have time to kill you before he needed to take his chance and run off."

"This sounds like a pretty heavy problem."

"It is," was all she said.

**I know, it's taking me a while to further the plot, but I'm really working hard! I swear. I'd love some reviews, tell me how I'm doing, your thoughts, etc. It's all appreciated.**

**-Holly**


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